In certain Wisconsin counties, “Some defendants have serious charges wiped away from the online database if they are dismissed under plea deals and some do not, depending on where they are prosecuted,” reports the Associated Press.
In some counties in the state – and the number is not yet known – prosecutors file new charges as part of plea agreements, causing county clerks to remove the previous charges from the online database in favor of the new ones, which are generally less severe.
The practice of filing new charges in plea deals and erasing the old ones has become more common “in the last year for reasons that are unclear,” says AP.
The result is a disparity between counties.
In many, prosecutors don’t erase the old charges after a plea deal but simply amend or dismiss the existing ones, so there is still a record of both the original and amended charges.